20 Movies Way More Successful Than Anyone Expected

The Greatest Showman is one of the all-time great reminders that a film's opening weekend isn't everything.

The Hugh Jackman-starring musical biopic opened under expectations, and with stiff competition from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Pitch Perfect 3, many doubted its ability to "leg out" over the 2017 holiday period.

But boosted by strong word-of-mouth - including an "A" CinemaScore" - and the wider popularity of the film's soundtrack, it managed to hold incredibly well in subsequent weeks, ultimately legging out to a mighty $459 million worldwide.

Given that many wrote the $84 million musical off after its first weekend, that's an exceptional result, and combined with the immense sales of the soundtrack make it a massive hit far beyond most expectations.

While The Greatest Showman is in many respects a box office anomaly, it does prove that films can initially underperform and still find their audience when the stars align.